Gearing for washing-machines.



A. F.- VICTOR. GEARING FOR WASHING MACHINES. APPLIOATIOH FILED APR. 16,1908.

Patented Mar. 23, 1909;

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Patented Mar. 23, 1909.

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' Inventor.

ALEXANDER FERDINAND VICTOR, OF ELMIRA, NEW YORK.

GEARING FOR WASHING-MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented March 23, 1909.

Application filed April 16, 1903. Serial No. 427,406.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER Fvrcron, a subject of the King of Sweden,residing at Elmira, in the county of Chemung and State of New York, haveinvented a new and useful Gearing for Washing-Machines, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a gearing for washing machinesand similar clevices, of simple, durable and inexpensive construction,designed to impart an alternating rotary motion to the agitatorshaft,and a continuous rotary motion at an increased rate of speed to abalance Wheel, whereby the balance wheel will aid in maintaining themotion of theagitator shaft after the operator ceases to apply power tothe gearing device.

More specifically it is my object to provide means for converting thecontinuous rotary motion of the driving shaft to an alternating rotarymotion of the agitator shaft, which means will operate smoothly andevenly and with a minimum of applied ower.

My invention consists in t e construction, arrangement and combinationof the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated areattained, as hereinaftermore fully set forth, pointed out in my claimsand illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows aside elevation of a washing machine provided with my improved gearingdevice, part of the inclosing casing and part of the tub body beingbroken away. Fig. 2 shows a top or plan view of same, the gear casingbeing shown in section- Fig. 3

shows an enlarged detail view of a part of the gearing device fortransmitting an alternating rotary motion to the agitator shaft. Fig. 4.shows a similar view of the same device taken from the opposite side,and Fig. 5 shows a sectional view taken on a vertical central linethrough Fig. 3. 7

Referring to the accompanying drawings, I have used the referencenumeral 10 to indicate the washing machine body, 11 the agitator, and 12the agitator shaft. These parts are of the'ordinary construction, andare illustrated and described herein solely for the purpose of showingone of the various ways that my improvedgearing device may bepractically and successfully used.

Supported on top of the machine body is the rotatable power shaft 13having a crank 14 attached thereto, whereby it may be operated by hand.Fixed to the shaft 13 is a beveled pinion 15. Mounted upon the washingmachine body is a short upright rotatable shaft 16 having a smallbeveled pinion 17 fixed thereto in mesh with the pinion 15, and alsohaving .a large beveled pinion 18 fixed thereto. Rotatably mounted uponthe shaft 13 is a sleeve 19 having fixed thereto a beveled pinion 20-anda balance wheel 21, the %inion 20 being in mesh with the pinion 18.

y means of this arrangement, it is obvious that when the crank 14 isrotated, the shaft 13 will be rotated at the same speed as the crank,and the balance wheel 21 will be rotated at an increased speed, and saidbalance wheel will continue the rotation of the power shaft 13 after theoperator ceases to apply power to the crank.

The means for converting the rotary motion of the power shaft 13 into analternating rotary motion as applied to the a gitator shaft 12,comprises. the following mechanisms: Fixed to the shaft 13 is a block 22having flat sides. This block is connected by means of two links 23'witha bracket hereinafter described. These links 23 are ivoted to theblock 22 and to a part of said racket in such manner that the bracket ispermitted to swing vertically through a limited arc. This bracketcomprises a back 24 having slots 25 at its upper andlower end portions,to receive the links 23 which are pivoted therein by means of the pivotpins 26. At the sides of thebracket are two curved arms 27 which armshave forward edges 28 of concave shape as clearly shown inFig. 1. At ornear the central portion of the bracket is a horizontally extended plate29 having a slot 30.

therein, through which the block 22 is extended. This slot is of suchsize and sha e as to permit the bracket to swing on the lin {S 23, butit prevents the bracket from rotating relative to the block 22. At theforward edge of the plate 29 is a series of rollers. 31 spaced apart andarranged in segmental form, said series of rollers comprising slightlymore than a half circle.v This device for converting the motion of theshaft 13 into an alternating rotary motion is all inclosed in a gearcasing 32, into which the shaft 13 is ex tended, and said shaft 13 isprovided with a hub 33 having a series of projecting rollers or pins 34on the part of its periphery that is adjacent to the crank. The otherend of the hub projects slightly beyond the projections or rollers 34,for purposes hereinafter made clear. These projections or rollers 34 areso arranged on the hub that they will mesh with the rollers 31 on theplate 29. The parts of this mechanism for transmitting motion from theshaft 13 to the shaft 12 are so proportioned and arranged that they willoperate as follows: Assuming the device to be in the positionillustrated in Figs. 1 and 2that is to say, with the hub 33 below therollers 31, then when the shaft 13 is rotated, the shaft 13 will beturned, together with the block and bracket attached to it, until one ofthe concave edges 28 of the bracket strikes upon the part of the hub 33that extends beyond the rollers or pins 34. This will cause the bracketto swing downwardly on the links 23 until the rollers 31 are below thehub 33. The said concave edge 28 will'however, keep the rollers or inson the hub in mesh with the rollers on the bracket and as the retarymotion of the shaft 13 is continued, the shaft 12 will then be turned inan opposite direction with the hub 13 traveling on top of the rollers31, and when said hub engages the concave edge 28 of the opposite sideof the bracket, it will cause the bracket to be elevated and therebypermit the hub 33 to ass under the bracket. In this way, an a ternatingrotary motion is applied to the shaft 12. Furthermore, the said shaft 12is not moved up and down, but the only up and down movement is that ofthe bracket, which is connected to the shaft 12 by means of the links23, and which is caused to move up and down by the engagement of the hub33 with the concave edges 28.

The pins or rollers 34 on the hub 33 are always in engagement with therollers 31, and the rollers 31 when moved in one direction, are on topof the hub, and when moved in the other direction are below it. The arms27 on which the concave edges 28 are formed, will yield immediately whenengaged by the hub 23, and hence, there is no shock or jar when saidconcave edges strike the hub, but the movement is smooth and regular. Byhaving the balance wheel loosely mounted upon the power shaft, I accomlish several advantageous results. First, dispense with the necessity ofan extra shaft and bearing for the balance wheel, and-second, thebalancewheel itself serves to protect the beveled gear wheels so that it is notnecessary to provide an extra casing to contain them.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown the improved gearing deviceas applied to a washing machine. Obviously, the same gearing device maybe advantageously used in connection with any sort of a device in whichit is desirable to convert a continuous rotary motion into analternating rotary motion, and to provide a balance wheel arranged torotate at an increased speed for continuing and equalizing the motion ofthe first shaft.

The rollers 31 perform the function of a segmental rack, and variousforms of segmental racks may be substituted, either with or withoutrollers, in place of the rollers herein shown. In some of theaccompanying claims, I use the term segmental rack to include either theroller arrangement. shown in the drawings, or any mechanism that isequivalent thereto.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination of a shaft, meansfor applying a continuous rotary motion to it, a second shaft at rightangles to the first, links pivoted to the second shaft, a bracketcarried by the links, arms on said bracket having concave edges to serveas guides, a segmental rack carried by said bracket, and a hub on thefirst shaft provided with pins to coact with the segmental rack, saidparts being so ar ranged that when the segmental rack is turned toposition with one end adjmient to the said hub, the hub will engage theconcave edges of the said arms and thus cause the bracket to swing onits supporting links to position where the segmental rack will be on theopposite side of the said hub, so that a further rotation of the hubwill cause the second shaft to rotate in an opposite direction.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a horizontallyarranged shaft, a hub thereon, pins on the hub, a vertically arrangedshaft, a block fixed to the vertically arranged shaft, two linkspivoted. to the block, a bracket pivoted to said links, said brackethaving a slot therein through which the said block on the shaft isextended, a segmental rack fixed to the bracket to co-act with the teethon the hub, and two arms car ried by the bracket having curved edgesdesigned to engage the hub, and to cause up andv down movements of thebracket when either end of the segmental rack is adjacent to the saidhub.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a horizontallyarranged shaft, a hub fixed thereto and having pins on its peripherynear one end, a vertically arranged shaft, a block fixed to thevertically arranged. shaft, and having flat sides, two links pivoted. tosaid block and extended in a direction away from the horizontallyarranged shaft, a bracket pivoted to said links and having two curvedarms fixed thereto, and extended in a direction toward the horizontallyarranged shaft, the forward ends of said curved arms being made concavefrom their upper to their lower ends, a plate fixed to said bracket andhaving a slot therein to receive said block, and a segmental rack fixedto the edge of said plate, said rack being designed to mesh with thepins on the hub, and the concave forward edges of said arms beingdesigned to engage that portion of the periphery of the hub that extendsbeyond said pins, for the purposes stated.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination of a shaft, meansfor applying a continuous rotary motion to the shaft,a second shaft atright angles to the first, a bracket adjacent to the second shaft, armson said bracket having concave edges to serve as guides, means forsupporting said bracket and for permitting it to move up and down to alimited extent, a segmental rack carried by said bracket, and a hub onthe first shaft provided with pins to co-act with the segmental rack,said hub being designed to engage the concave edges of the bracket whenthe bracket is at the opposite limits of its movement, said concaveedges being so shaped that when thus engaged by the hub, the bracketwill move either up or down to permit the hub to return on the side ofthe segmental rack opposite from the one just traversed by it.

Des Moines, Iowa, March 21, 1908.

ALEXANDER FERDINAND VICTOR, W1tnesses;

ANNA E. WIsE, E. H. BERNINE.

